NEWS, SEPTEMBER NAVYNAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2011 2011 35
Reunions October 2011 HMS Mauritius (Shore Base). If you served on the island of Mauritius between 1962-1976 you may be interested in the fourth reunion that is being held in the WO, SR & SNCO’s Mess at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth on October 8. More information is available from Tina Lowe (née Hills) at tina.lowe3@ntlworld.com or tel: 01329 843347. NOVEMER 2011 The Neptune Association will hold its next AGM at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire, on Saturday November 26 at 3pm. The event includes a short service to remember the 836 men lost on HM Ships Neptune and Kandahar 70 years ago in December 1941 – the RN’s fifth worst loss of life in World War 2. Relatives and friends welcome. www. hmsneptune.com. Contact Graham Davies 07941 440113 and 01327 877784. December 2011 Portsmouth Field Gunners Association: Christmas Social. HMS Excellent WO & Senior Rates Mess. December 3, starting at 1900 to 2359. All Portsmouth Field gunners, Associate members, families and friends are welcome to join in the festivities. For more details log into http://www. portsmouthfieldgunners.org.uk or email: robdon.wyatt@ntlworld.com or tel: 023 9235 6868. March 2012 HMS Undine & Urchin Association: in
company with Ursa, Ulster, Ulysses, Urania and Undaunted are holding their next AGM and Reunion at the Inglewood Hotel, Torquay from March 9 to 12. Contact Secretary, Chris Heslop at chris@cheslop.plus.com or tel: 01229 826227 or write to 68 Rakesmoor Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 4LQ. April 2012 HMS Glasgow (C21/D88): 32nd reunion will take place at the Haddon Hotel, Eastbourne from April 20 to 23. All ex-crew are welcome. Details from Garry Eaton, 10 Elderwood Avenue, Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancs, FY5 5EQ or tel: 07864 712776. Royal Navy Display Team 1985 Reunion: Former members of the 1985 Royal Navy Display Team, Gary Morley and Gary Burton, are organising a reunion of the 1985 Royal Navy Display Team on April 29, in the rural village of Lochailort in the Scottish, West Highlands. If you were a member of the 1985 Royal Navy Display Team or know of anyone who was you may be interested in joining us. You can register your interest either by contacting Gary Morley at gary.morley@ oddfellows.co.uk or register your interest on the facebook site Royal Navy Display Team 1985: http://www.facebook.com/group. php?gid=42688338104. If you require any further information please contact Gary on 0151 949 0712. HMS Hermes Reunion/30th Falklands Anniversary: Will take place from April 5 to 8 at the Royal Maritime Club, Portsmouth. To join the association and more information
2001 1981 1971 THE TIME OF1991 YOUR LIVES We flick back through the pages of Navy News to see which stories were drawing attention in past decades...
l HMS Ashanti
September 1971 ONE of the longest live radio broadcasts from a warship since the late lamented days of the Spithead Fleet Reviews (and Cdr Woodroffe’s memorable 1937 broadcast ‘the Fleet’s all lit up’) was staged by HMS Ashanti during her Meet the Navy tour of Britain. The Tribal-class frigate’s Public Relations Officer organised the broadcast by BBC Radio Teesside as the ship was alongside in Middlesbrough. The station’s 400,000 listeners awoke at 0615 to a bugle call from the upper deck and until 0900 were entertained with interviews, music requests and weather reports from members of the ship’s company. After the marathon broadcast there was just time for the ship’s company to have a quick cigarette before the first party of schoolchildren arrived to tour the frigate.
September 1981
SAILORS from HMS Exeter joined veterans from the cruiser of the same name in Exeter St David’s station to mark the ‘twinning’ of the ship with a diesel locomotive. Two gleaming brass plaques were mounted onto the British Rail Class 50 loco, both cast in the style of the Exeter badge, a lion rampant, with crown and orb, emerging from the sea. The commanding officer of the Type 42 destroyer, Capt Jeremy Dreyer, unveiled one of the plaques, watched by members of his ship’s company and sailors who had served in the Exeter of River Plate fame.
September 1991
HMS Norfolk carried out the first live Seawolf firing in Cardigan Bay, successfully engaging a small radio-controlled model aircraft. The vertical launch Seawolf, fired from deck-mounted silos, a rapid-reaction close area defence system against missiles and aircraft, was to be fitted to all Type 23 frigates and the RFA’s new auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels by the mid-1990s.
September 2001 THE main Royal Navy forces involved in Exercise Argonaut were leaving the UK for a four-month deployment described by the Commander UK Maritime Forces, Rear Admiral Burnell-Nugent, as ‘a demonstration to anyone on the world stage who might behave badly.’ Led by the flagship, HMS Illustrious, 25 warships, submarines and support vessels were to take part in exercises in the Mediterranean and Middle East, culminating in the major, triservice exercise Saif Sareea. The exercises were intended to demonstrate the UK’s ability to deploy, operate and sustain a substantial maritime task force and to reinforce the UK’s commitment to the security and stability of the Mediterranean region and Middle East.
contact the Secretary at richardtipping@ blueyonder.co.uk or tel: 01752 787697. May 2012 HMS Danae First Commission: Reunion from May 18 to 19 at the Chesterfield Hotel, Chesterfield. Details on the website at www.hms-danae.com. Further information from Dave Shoemaker at dfedcrusher25@ hotmail.com or 119 Gloster Park, Amble, Northumbria NE65 0HF. June 2012 Greenwich Royal Hospital School: Holbrook will over the next couple of years be staging several events to celebrate the school’s tercentenary. Details can be obtained from Rob Mann at rjm@ royalhospitalschool.org, a master at the school and heavily involved with the organisation of RHS300, as it has become known. Rob Mann is also involved in setting up a School Museum, so would welcome communication with any former student. To coincide with the celebration he is trying to arrange a reunion of Class 5A circa 1960. Many of Class 5A joined the Royal Navy as did many boys of the school. Although many are in touch, an email address hjas been set up at class5A1960@gmail.com to locate and pass on information to ex class members. Be advised that the reunion is planned for June 23-24 2012.
Ask Jack BBC TV Coast – Uckers: BBC TV’s Coast is calling on Uckers fans to get in touch with the show to contribute to a story on the Navy game that very few outside the Senior Service know anything about. Coast are looking for Uckers players to tell us about their love for the game – we want to know about tournaments aboard ships, the homemade trophies for the winners, how the rules are different depending on which ship you’re on, or where in the world you play. How can Uckers compete in the world of Playstation and flat-screen TV? We want to know about the history of Uckers from those at sea and those who’ve now left the Service. What passions and disagreements did Uckers arouse? Please get in touch with BBC Coast and tell your Uckers stories. Contact Steve Evanson, Coast Series Editor, BBC Birmingham, The Mailbox, Coast, Level 9, Royal Mail Street, Birmingham B1 1RF, or email coast@bbc.co.uk. HMS Black Swan: I write as an ex-stoker in HMS Black Swan on the China Station in 1945. If any ex-matelots of that era are around, please, drop me a (normal) letter, Write to Douglas Baggott, 15 Southam Close, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 0AE. HMS St Vincent, Duncan 972 Class, Nov 1956. If these numbers mean anything to you, then three of us in the West Country are in contact, Rob Jerrard, John Long and Ken Jones. We would like more to join us so please contact Ken Jones at krhysjones@ blueyonder.co.uk or tel: 01752 406326. HMS Raleigh Passing Out Parade Summer 1991: Can anyone help me find a copy of the VHS tape of this occasion as ours was lost when we moved house and is no longer available from the film company. If we could borrow it to have a copy made that would be wonderful. Contact Ian Todd at iantodd1@btinternet.com or tel: 020 8660 6127. HMS Petard: I used to be in contact with Reg Crang some time ago. I have his phone number but I cannot get through for some reason. My name is Tom Tate and I am Tommy Brown’s cousin. My mother and Tommy’s father are brother and sister. I wish to inform him about Tommy’s family history. I had promised to chase it up for him. Contact Tom Tate at topper1929@gmail.com or tel: 0191 257 5288. (Perry) M Mason: Please can you help me to trace this person? I didn’t know his rank, but his name is Mr (Perry) M Mason and he lived at St Budeaux, Plymouth. In October 1985 he was based at HMS Defiance as I have photographs of him at my husband’s retirement party which he had arranged. He also attended my husband’s funeral, Warrant Officer 1st Class, Maurice Cave on Friday July 29 2011. I would like to trace him to give me the opportunity to talk to him more about the work he and my husband did together in the navy. Everyone wanted to talk to me after the funeral and Mr Mason faded into the background and sadly we didn’t have the chance to exchange telephone numbers. Please contact Pam Cave at willmotts@blueyonder.co.uk (her daughter’s email) or tel: 07740 244356. John William Andrews: I have been trying for many years to find family and friends of my father CPO(Tel) John William ‘Bill’ Andrews, who was killed in the submarine Triad in 1941. His father’s name was William Reginald Andrews and his mother’s name was Lesley. If you can help contact Marie Bullock, 36 Tor View Court, Somerton Road, Street, Somerset BA16 0FE. HMS Warspite: Does anyone know why on HMS Warspite, the ‘X’ Turret, traditionally manned by Royal Marines, was manned by Seamen. I was a member of ‘X’ Turret’s gun crew on Warspite. Contact Roy Emmington, 237 Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 5JB.
Diamond’s deft destroyer design IF ONLY the real thing were this easy.
Five people, 120 minutes, £49.99 and one finished Type 45… which is a saving of about £999999950.01, six years, and several thousand people. It would have been even quicker (if not cheaper) with instructions… Three teams were set to work building a replica Type 45 destroyer on HMS Diamond in Portsmouth to launch the new officially-sanctioned playsets for youngsters – but without the building manual. The sets, produced under licence by Character Building, are designed for youngsters aged seven and above. It should take children about 90 minutes to two hours to complete… …which is roughly what it took the three teams (two from Diamond, who have first-hand knowledge of 45s serving on one, and one from BAE Systems, who build the class) to complete the 514-piece Legoesque sets using intuition and photographs of the finished models to guide them. “It looks a bit like a Type 45 – there’s a blunt end and pointy end,” said AB(CIS) Adele Knibbs. “Actually some of the details are great, but it’s a nightmare to build without instructions. Being on a Type 45 makes no difference whatsoever.” The 514 pieces include five small figures – one pilot for a less-than-authentic helicopter, two matelots in No.1s and two in anti-flash – 30mm guns, opening hangar door, silo with four missiles (44 fewer than the real thing) and an ops room with seats and consoles. The 4.5in gun, Sea Viper missiles, main mast, the ‘spinning egg’ Sampson and the black slab of the long-range radar are fairly obvious, thanks to their distinctive shapes. But as for the rest, well the kit had junior and senior rates and civvies scratching their heads. Younger Diamonds had the edge over their older shipmates because, as one chief put it, “they’ve only just stopped playing with toys”. They were also aided by 15-year-old Jordan Rushworth from Gosport, son of Diamond’s LCH Lee Rushworth, although the teenager conceded “My head hurts – it’s too hard for a seven-year-old to complete.” In the end, age and experience triumphed over
youthful exuberance; a combined team from HMS Northumberland (which isn’t a Type 45…) and Diamond, led by PO Baxter and CPO Hemstock – pictured above by LA(Phot) Jenny Lodge, FRPU East. Unlike the real thing the winners had spare bits left over at the end, so decided to show a bit of initiative and used the leftovers to build a catamaran contraption. The models are the latest RN toy tie-in; already available are larger action figures, such as a diver and talking Royal Marines Commando. They come under the banner of the Navy’s ‘toymaster’, Lt Cdr Steve Hayton, a Merlin observer currently overseeing RN marketing in Whitehall. As well as toys he looks for opportunities to raise the Navy’s profile through officially-licensed merchandise which presently includes Haynes manuals and a line of clothing from fashion retailer Next. There are talks to create a Royal Navy tea (you could call it Jack Char…) to join RAF tea on the supermarket shelves, but the various toy lines are by far the most popular licence. Plans are in hand for model RN Merlins (again there’s an RAF one already) and a minehunter, plus some RM Band Service figures for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next year. “This is a worthwhile venture – it generates income which is for the good of the Service, but it is also about getting the RN in the public eye, getting people talking about the Navy. And we only endorse quality products,” said Lt Cdr Hayton. The sets are available via www.characterbuilding. eu, or you can have a go at winning one of three models as the firm’s kindly donated them to us (you will have to build the ships yourselves… with instructions). To win, tell us the name of the famous toy store – the largest in the world – in London’s Regent Street. Send your entry to type45@navynews.co.uk or Type 45 Competition, Navy News, Leviathan Block, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, PO1 3HH. Entries must be received by mid-day on Friday October 14 2011. The normal competition rules apply.
Talking Navy News Navy News is available free of charge as a digital file on memory stick or email from Portsmouth Area Talking News for those with difficulty reading normal type. Contact 023 9269 0851 and leave a message with a contact number, or email patn-rec@hotmail.com. A speaker that will take a USB plug is required or the file can be played back through a computer.
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